The Self-Development Domain: The Forgotten Domain of Leader Development
Abstract
Today, the individual branches of the Armed Forces recognize the importance of self-development as a critical component on the continuum of leader development. However, beyond reading lists, the various services do very little to assist individuals in their personal study of war and warfare. Individuals currently lack the incentives to deepen their knowledge on an ongoing basis. A professional military society would provide the required extrinsic motivation by creating a network of life-long learners, who are intrinsically motivated to deepen their knowledge and supplement their experiences of war and warfare by interacting on an ongoing basis, thereby strengthening their own individual self-development in multiple ways. First, the practice of community-based learning within the military has worked before, and those who participated greatly benefited from the practice. Second, it would support participants to organically cultivate relationships by creating personal learning networks and connecting mentors to mentees. Finally, it would help individuals avoid some common pitfalls associated with self-study and assist in the development of critical thinking skills.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 15, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA609318
Entities
People
- Joseph M. Byerly
Organizations
- Naval War College